Giro d’Italia 2025: Best Bets and TV Times
184 riders representing 23 teams will make the 2025 Giro d’Italia a great spectacle, yet it appears to be a straight shootout between a veteran and a young gun.
Primož Roglič (centre) is favourite to win the 2025 Giro, but will Juan Ayuso have more teammates around him when it matters? © Red Bull Content Pool
Key Facts:
- Primož Roglič must rewrite the record books to win the 2025 Giro d’Italia.
- Juan Ayuso is odds-on to win the White Jersey and outright second favourite.
- UAE Team Emirates XRG holds the Team Classification aces.
- TNT Sports channels and Discovery+ will broadcast the Giro action live.
Primož Roglič is an 11/8 favourite to land the first of cycling’s 2025 Grand Tours, the Giro d’Italia, starting May 9. To justify the price tag, the Slovenian rider must outwit and outpace 183 rivals representing 23 teams and be ahead on time when the race concludes in Rome on June 1.
This year, the 3,443-kilometre race starts in Durrës, Romania. Its 21 stages consist of two individual time trials, seven mountain stages (five raced during the final seven days) and four flat stages. The remaining stages are described as ‘hilly’; one features five sectors of gravel roads. The average stage is 164 kilometres in length.
With so much that could potentially go wrong – from crashes to sickness and injury – to the layman, all Grand Tours would appear as haphazard as horse racing’s Grand National. However, favourites have an outstanding record in all major stage races and big-priced winners are rare.
Age Is the Barrier for Roglič
Nevertheless, there are grounds to swerve the market principle, and there are plenty of betting markets to consider outside the traditional ‘race winner’ list. Why can we oppose 11/8 favourite Primož Roglič? At 35, the Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe rider would be the oldest winner in history.
An embrace of history, beauty, and great cycling 🏛️
Rome, the Grande Arrivo of the Giro d’Italia 2025.
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Un abbraccio tra storia, bellezza e il grande ciclismo 🏛️Roma, il Grande Arrivo del Giro d'Italia 2025.#GirodItalia #GrandeArrivo pic.twitter.com/U4VhsKRxq7
— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) April 29, 2025
Fiorenzo Magni currently holds the age record. He was 34 when he won the gruelling marathon in 1955. The youngest winner, some 85 years ago, was aged 20 and 158 days. Our 2025 bet recommendation, Juan Ayuso, is a little older. Just 22 years old, he has a remarkable frame, packing a mere 65 kilos into his six-foot skeleton.
The Spaniard won the ‘Giro Next Gen’ (AKA the Baby Giro’) in 2021 and has twice finished inside the top four at the Vuelta a España. Ayuso has enjoyed an exceptional start to his season, with victories at the Faun Drôme Classic, Trofeo Laigueglia, Tirreno-Adriatico, and took stage 3 of the Volta a Catalunya.
Giro Record Books Will Need a Rewrite
Vitally, we believe Juan Ayuso has a stronger team behind him than that of Primož Roglič. Adam Yates has the mantle of joint team leader alongside our selection. The duo has a mighty stable of teammates, including former Giro stage winner Brandon McNulty, Igor Arrieta, Filippo Baroncini, Isaac del Toro, Rafał Majka, and Jay Vine.
The UK’s best gambling sites also believe Ayuso’s UAE Team Emirates XRG holds the aces. It makes the squad 5/6 favourites to claim the Giro’s Team Classification award, which is calculated by adding up the top three riders’ times from each team for each stage.
The Giro’s Jersey Colours Explained
There are four jerseys in the Giro d’Italia. The race leader wears pink (Rosa). White (bianco) is worn by the rider heading the Young Rider Classification. Purple (Cyclamen) is reserved for the rider topping the Points Classification, and the blue (Azzurra) jersey is reserved for the rider that heads the Mountains Classification.
Punters can bet on the destination of each jersey. Those prepared to back odds-on may be interested in Juan Ayuso taking the white jersey at odds of 4/6. At a far more attractive 14/1, and with each-way terms available, Richard Carapaz is a firm fancy for the Azzurra jersey.
Capable climbers Hugh Carthy, Jefferson Cepeda, and James Shaw will support Carapaz in the mountains, and the EF Education-EasyPost rider has a fine CV. Notably, he won the equivalent category (the polka dot jersey) in last year’s Tour de France.
A stage winner and podium finisher in all three Grand Tours – including this race in 2019 – the Ecuadorian rider has bundles of back-class and can slowly find his legs in this race before the mountains come into play during week three.
Pink squad @EFprocycling 💪🏽🩷 pic.twitter.com/qEEXXdmsJO
— Richard Carapaz M (@RichardCarapazM) March 16, 2025
Two Easy Education in Stage Wins
Richard Carapaz could definitely win a few stages. In last year’s Giro, his EF Education-EasyPost teammate, Georg Steinhauser, finished a day’s racing ahead. He goes again in 2025, and with the punchy Michael Valgren also in the squad, their team could enjoy more than one stage win.
Sports betting sites offering Giro d’Italia betting markets quote EF Education-EasyPost’s odds of two or more stage victories on even money. It’s a sound bet, as is sprinter/time trialist Mad Pedersen at 11/10 odds in the Points Classification markets.
Where to Watch the Giro D’Italia
UK and Irish viewers can watch every stage of the Giro d’Italia live on TNT Sports channels and Discovery+. Each stage will be broadcast in full, accompanied by The Breakaway, a pre and post-stage show hosted by Orla Chennaoui.
Expert analysis and commentary will come from Adam Blythe, Tour de France green jersey winner Robbie McEwen, Steve Cummings and Matt Stephens.
Our 2025 Giro d’Italia Top Tips
- Race Winner: Juan Ayuso (2/1)
- Mountains Classification Winner: Richard Carapaz (14/1 each-way)
- Two+ Stage Wins: EF Education-EasyPost (even-money)
- Points Classification Winner: Mad Pedersen (11/10)
